Stan was a peculiar character, someone I got to know towards the end of his life. He was properly old school, a showbiz reporter through and through, always ready with a take to spin and something of a legend if truth be told - if only for being one of the few newspapermen anyone has seen carried into a restaurant for a free meal!
Anyway, in line with the rest of the media Stan had been charmed by The Beatles the previous summer and swept up in the hype and fuss of Beatlemania that followed their Winter Gardens visit in November. By the time the summer of '64 rolled around, in keeping with the rest of the British press, the man at the Evening Echo was straining to see the cracks start to form.
Here's what he made of the Gaumont show ...
Apart from a few children who tried to rush the stage, there was little trouble during the actual performances themselves.
With fantastic tours of America and Australia behind them, as well as their first film, The Beatles themselves don't appear to have changed at all, thank goodness, and there is still that drive and vitality that makes them the most popular entertainers in the world.
The Hearts - they dropped the Purple from their title when the phrase began to have a sinister ring - got the show off to a better-than-average start, their lead guitarist being brilliant. Adrienne Poster provided the touch of glamour, and Mike Berry and the Innocents took us up to the interval. Now that he has stepped out of Buddy Holly's Shadow, Mike gets better and better each time I see him.
The Kinks provided what could be called an atmosphere-raisinf opening for the second half.
Stan Sowden, Evening Echo, 3 August 1964
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